Welterweight Boxing in History

Events in Sport

1865-01-02 Welterweight Con Orem & heavyweight Hugh O'Neill brawl for 185 rounds before darkness ends legendary bare knuckle boxing match in Virginia City, Montana
1922-11-01 In an all-American bout, Mickey Walker upsets defending champion Jack Britton in a 15-round points decision at Madison Square Garden, NYC; wins world welterweight boxing crown

Olympic Gold

1960-09-05 Future world middleweight boxing champion Nino Benvenuti of Italy beats Yuri Radonyak of the Soviet Union to win welterweight gold medal at the Rome Olympics

Boxing Title Fight

1962-03-24 Emile Griffith beats Benny " Kid" Paret by TKO in 12th round in welterweight boxing title fight at MSG, NYC; Paret dies 10 days later; first use of television slow motion replay

Sports History

1976-03-06 In his 10th title defense, WBA light welterweight champion Antonio Cervantes of Colombia is beaten by 17-year-old Puerto Rican boxer Wilfred Benítez in a 15-round split decision in San Juan, Puerto Rico; Benitez youngest ever world champion

1979-01-14 Puerto Rican boxer Wilfred Benitez beats WBC welterweight champion Carlos Palomino of Mexico in a 15-round split decision in San Juan, Puerto Rico; becomes two-division champion at the age of 20

Roberto Durán vs Sugar Ray Leonard

1980-06-20 Panamanian boxer Roberto Durán takes WBC welterweight title from Sugar Ray Leonard at Olympic Stadium in Montreal by unanimous points decision

1980-11-25 Sugar Ray Leonard regains WBC welterweight boxing crown when Roberto Durán quits in the 8th round of infamous “no mas” fight at the Superdome, New Orleans
1981-05-23 Puerto Rican boxer Wilfred Benítez (22) becomes the youngest 3-division world champion in history by knocking out WBC World Super Welterweight champion Maurice Hope in 12 rounds in Las Vegas
1981-11-14 In the first world championship fight between 2 Puerto Ricans in boxing history, WBC Super Welterweight champion Wilfred Benitez beats Carlos Santos in a 15-round unanimous decision at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas
1982-01-30 WBC super welterweight champion Wilfred Benitez of Puerto Rico defeats boxing legend Roberto Durán of Panama in a 15-round unanimous decision at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas
1982-12-03 After losing his world welterweight boxing titles to Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns wins WBC Super Welterweight crown in a majority points decision over Wilfred Benitez at Superdome, New Orleans
1991-02-09 Terry Norris knocks down Sugar Ray Leonard twice and beats him to defend his WBC Super Welterweight title
2002-05-18 Micky Ward beats Arturo Gatti by majority decision in a junior welterweight boxing bout in Uncasville, Connecticut; 'The Ring' Fight of the Year; first fight in their legendary trilogy

Márquez vs. Pacquiao

2012-12-09 Juan Manuel Márquez knocks out Manny Pacquiao in round six for the WBO light welterweight title

Sports History

2013-05-04 Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeats Robert Guerrero to retain his WBC Welterweight title

2013-10-12 Timothy Bradley defeats Juan Manuel Márquez to win the WBA Welterweight boxing title
2013-11-23 Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao defeats American Brandon Rios by unanimous decision to win the WBO welterweight title at Cotai Arena, Macau, China
2014-04-13 Manny Pacquiao defeats Timothy Bradley to regain his WBO welterweight boxing title
2015-05-02 Floyd Mayweather Jr. beats Manny Pacquiao on points in 12 rounds in world welterweight unification fight, shatters all financial records for a boxing match
2015-07-06 Floyd Mayweather Jr. is stripped of his WBO welterweight boxing title after failing to pay $200k sanctioning fee and vacate his 2 junior middleweight titles
2016-05-21 On same card, American boxer Jermell Charlo KOs John Jackson in 8th to claim vacant WBC super welterweight title, and Jermall Charlo beats Austin Trout on points to retain IBF version; first twins to hold world championships in same weight division
2017-07-02 Home town underdog Jeff Horn upsets Manny Pacquiao of the Philippines on points in a highly controversial WBO welterweight title fight in Brisbane, Australia
2018-07-15 Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao stops WBA welterweight champion Lucas Matthysse in 7 in Kuala Lumpur for his first knockout in 9 years and 60th career victory
2019-07-06 Jorge Masvidal (34-13) sets a UFC record by needing just 5 seconds to KO Ben Askren (19-1, 1 NC) during their welterweight bout at UFC 239 in Las Vegas, Nevada
2021-05-22 30-year-old Scottish light-welterweight boxer Josh Taylor becomes Britain's first undisputed world champion in the four-belt era by beating Jose Ramirez by unanimous decision in Las Vegas

Birthdays in Sport

1870-03-31 Tommy Ryan, American boxer (World Welterweight, Middleweight champion), born in Redwood, NY (d. 1948)
1873-03-13 Barbados Joe Walcott, Barbadian boxer (World Welterweight champion 1901-06; first Black to hold that title), born in Demerara, British Guyana (d. 1935)
1901-07-13 Mickey Walker, American boxer (World Welterweight Champion 1922-26; World Middleweight Champion 1926-29), born in Elizabeth, New Jersey (d. 1981)
1906-11-01 John Indrisano, American welterweight boxer, stunt man, and bit-part actor (O.K.. Crackerby!), born in East Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1968)
1907-12-19 Jimmy McLarnin, Irish boxer (NYSAC, NBA, The Ring welterweight world champion 1933-35; International Boxing HOF), born in Hillsborough, Northern Ireland (d. 2004)
1908-02-09 Jackie Fields, American featherweight boxer (2x World Welterweight Champion, Olympic gold 1924), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1987)
1909-12-23 Barney Ross, American Welterweight Boxing Champ (1934), born in New York City (d. 1967)
1912-12-22 Henry Armstrong, American boxer (world featherweight, lightweight, welterweight [19 x title defences] champion), born in Columbus, Mississippi (d. 1988)
1915-05-06 Freddie Cochrane, American boxer (World Welterweight champion 1941-1946), born in Elizabeth, New Jersey (d. 1993)

Sugar Ray Robinson (1921-1989)

1921-05-03 American boxer (world welterweight champion 1946-51; middleweight champion 1951-52, 55, 58), born in Ailey, Georgia

1927-04-02 Carmen Basilio, American boxer (World Welterweight title 1955-56; Middleweight title 1957-58), born in Canastota, New York (d. 2012)
1932-01-14 Tony DeMarco, American boxer (NBA, NYSAC, The Ring welterweight titles 1955), born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 2021)
1932-04-24 Vladimir Yengibaryan, Armenian boxer (Olympic gold light welterweight 1956), born in Yerevan, Armenia (d. 2013)
1932-04-27 Charles Adkins, American boxer (Olympic gold light welterweight 1952), born in Gary, Indiana (d. 1993)
1936-09-09 Carlos Ortiz, Puerto Rican boxer (World Light Welterweight Champion 1959-60; World Lightweight Champion 1962-65, 65-68), born in Ponce, Puerto Rico (d. 2022)
1937-06-15 Curtis Cokes, American boxer (WBA/WBC world welterweight champion 1966-69), born in Dallas, Texas (d. 2020)
1937-08-14 Brian Curvis, Welsh boxer and British welterweight champion (1960-1964), born in Swansea, Wales (d. 2012)

Emile Griffith (1938-2013)

1938-02-03 American boxer, (world welterweight, middleweight & junior middleweight champion), born in Saint Thomas, US Virgin Islands

1938-03-10 Kazım Ayvaz, Turkish wrestler (Olympic gold lightweight 1964; World C'ship gold welterweight 1958; lightweight 1962), born in Rize, Turkey (d. 2020)
1939-10-15 Carmelo Bossi, Italian boxer (Olympic silver 1960; Lineal, WBC, WBA super welterweight title 1970-71), born in Milan, Italy (d. 2014)
1940-10-19 Jerzy Kulej, Polish light welterweight boxer (Olympic gold 1964, 68), born in Częstochowa, Poland (d. 2012)
1946-09-15 Fighting Mack [Edwin Alberto], Antillian welterweight boxer, born in Willemstad, Curacao
1948-04-06 Vítězslav Mácha, Czech Greco-Roman wrestler (Olympic gold welterweight 1972, silver 1976; World C'ship gold 1974, 77), born in Krmelín, Czech Republic (d. 2023)
1953-03-21 Emilio Correa, Cuban boxer (Olympic gold welterweight 1972; World C'ship gold 1974), born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba (d. 2024)
1955-10-20 Aaron Pryor, American welterweight boxing champion, born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 2016)

Wilfred Benítez (65 years old)

1958-09-12 Puerto Rican boxer (youngest world champion at 17 years, 176 days [WBA Light Welterweight]), born in New York City

Deaths in Sport

1935-10-04 Barbados Joe Walcott, Barbadian boxer (World Welterweight champion 1901-06; first Black to hold that title), dies in a car accident at 62
1948-08-03 Tommy Ryan, American boxer (World Welterweight, Middleweight champion), dies at 78
1962-04-03 Benny "Kid" Paret, American welterweight boxer, dies after a fight at 24
1967-01-17 Barney Ross, American welterweight Boxing Champ (1934), dies at 57
1968-07-06 John Indrisano, American welterweight boxer, stunt man, and bit-part actor (O.K.. Crackerby!), dies of apparent suicide at 61
1981-04-28 Mickey Walker, American boxer (World Welterweight Champion 1922-26; World Middleweight Champion 1926-29), dies at 79
1987-06-30 Jackie Fields, American featherweight boxer (2x World Welterweight Champion, Olympic gold 1924), dies at 79
1988-10-24 Henry Armstrong, American boxer (world featherweight, lightweight, welterweight [19 x title defences] champion), dies at 75

Sugar Ray Robinson (1921-1989)

1989-04-12 American boxer (world welterweight champion 1946-51; middleweight champion 1951-52, 55, 58), dies of Alzheimer's disease at 67

1993-01-16 Freddie Cochrane, American boxer (World Welterweight champion 1941-1946), dies at 77
1993-07-08 Charles Adkins, American boxer (Olympic gold light welterweight 1952), dies at 61
1994-07-24 Wangila Napunyi, Kenyan welterweight boxer (Olympic gold 1988), dies after a boxing match at 26
2004-10-28 Jimmy McLarnin, Irish boxer (NYSAC, NBA, The Ring welterweight world champion 1933-35; International Boxing HOF), dies at 96
2012-01-09 Brian Curvis, British boxer and 1960 welterweight champion, dies from leukemia at 74
2012-07-13 Jerzy Kulej, Polish light welterweight boxer and politician, dies from a heart attack at 71
2012-11-07 Carmen Basilio, American boxer (World Welterweight title 1955-56; Middleweight title 1957-58), dies from pneumonia at 85
2012-11-24 Héctor Camacho, Puerto Rican boxer (WBC super featherweight 1983-84, WBC lightweight 1985-87, WBO Jr. welterweight twice 1989-1992), dies from gunshot wounds at 50
2013-02-01 Vladimir Yengibaryan, Armenian boxer (Olympic gold light welterweight 1956), dies from Alzheimer's disease at 80

Emile Griffith (1938-2013)

2013-07-23 American boxer, (world welterweight, middleweight & junior middleweight champion), dies of dementia complications at 75

2014-03-23 Carmelo Bossi, Italian boxer (Olympic silver 1960; Lineal, WBC, WBA super welterweight title 1970-71), dies at 74
2016-10-09 Aaron Pryor, American welterweight boxing champion, dies of heart disease at 60
2020-01-19 Kazım Ayvaz, Turkish wrestler (Olympic gold lightweight, 1964; World C'ship gold welterweight, 1958; lightweight, 1962), dies at 81
2020-03-17 Roger Mayweather, American boxer (WBA & lineal super featherweight title 1983-84, WBC light welterweight 1987-89; IBO light welterweight; IBO welterweight 1994-95), dies at 58
2020-05-29 Curtis Cokes, American boxer (WBA/WBC world welterweight champion 1966-69), dies of heart failure at 82
2020-07-15 Travell Mazion, American boxer (WBC-NABF super welterweight title 2020), dies in a car accident at 24
2021-10-11 Tony DeMarco, American boxer (NBA, NYSAC, The Ring welterweight titles 1955), dies at 89
2022-06-13 Carlos Ortiz, Puerto Rican boxer (World Light Welterweight Champion 1959-60; World Lightweight Champion 1962-65, 65-68), dies at 85
2023-05-29 Vítězslav Mácha, Czech Greco-Roman wrestler (Olympic gold welterweight 1972, silver 1976; World C'ship gold 1974, 77), dies at 75
2024-03-11 Emilio Correa, Cuban boxer (Olympic gold welterweight 1972; World C'ship gold 1974), dies at 70